This is my hometown of Perth. On the odd chance that you’ve heard of it, it’s probably as the home of Bon Scott, Sam Worthington (actually, both went to my high school), or (eeeeeew) Pendulum. As you can see from the above diagram, it’s pretty far away from anything that isn’t the Indian Ocean. In fact, we’re a full 2,104kms (1, 307 miles) from the nearest major city, making us the second most isolated city on earth. Because we’re so far away from everything, a lot of smaller bands don’t tour out here, and guitars and drums cost a shitload extra because of the shipping costs. But we do have a lot of sand. And rocks. And coastline.

Anyway, I thought this would be a cool opportunity to share with you guys some of the better heavy bands from the rapidly-evaporating cultural oasis that I call home.

Click to read more…

I know I just railed against expensive music videos in a rant last week. I stand by my assertion that music videos now serve a different purpose than they once did, and as such shouldn’t be held to the same standards. I’m a-ok with the band-in-a-warehouse thing these days. Really, I am. It seems silly to spend tons of money on a lavish music video when there’s little chance of earning it back and there are other, cheaper, better ways to promote a band. But the music video definitely still serves a useful, albeit different, function in the overall music marketing canon.

But that only applies to standard music videos. Pendulum’s new video for “Salt in the Wounds” is a completely different ballgame.

To my knowledge, no one’s ever made an interactive 360-degree music video before. Click and drag on the moving image in Pendulum’s new video to rotate the view of the camera to your liking, and zoom in or out to look at different parts of each scene. What a totally fun and new way to make a music video and directly involve the watcher. Since the technology is new (to a music video, anyway) and the idea novel, it’s also a great way to rope in potential new fans. A great use of marketing money, IMO.

Check out the video here. Thanks to Number of the Blog for tipping us off to it.

-VN

PS: If you’re questioning the relevance of Pendulum on a metal blog, do a quick site search.

We’ve gotten a number of emails over the years about Australian heavy drum and bass group Pendulum arguing that they’re “metal,” or at the very least worth seeing live. And having finally seen the band live in New York last Summer I can say with certainty that both things are true. Though they’re a drum and bass band at heart, they are definitely a band — as in, lotsa guys up there on stage playing the music live as opposed to just a DJ and an MC or something — and they certainly incorporate elements of metal into their explosive, mind-blowing live show. They also covered “Master of Puppets,” a nod to their metal roots.

In the run-up to the new Pendulum record Immersion we’ve gotten a ton of emails that the record contains a a collabo with In Flames. In the metal world, seeing a “featuring” credit in a song-title is pretty rare — and yeah, In Flames recent output hasn’t been all that — but still, I was more than a little curious to hear this collaboration. Until now we’ve only gotten to see crappy live footage or we’ve been sent dead links, but finally, here it is: “Self vs. Self.” And it sounds more or less exactly like you’d expect — an In Flames song in all its dual-lead guitar harmony and Anders screaming glory — on top of a mild drum and bass backdrop. It’s pretty cool, and though I’m sure the rest of Immersion sounds nothing like this I’m still interested in checking it out.

-VN

Thanks: Raezzer

UK heavy-techno band Pendulum — who really fucking impressed me the one time I saw them live — have posted a remix of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” Pendulum have always tried to fit into the metal / hard rock spheres with mixed reactions… their techno does definitely incorporate elements of both as does their live show, but I can definitely see how they’d grate on die-hard metal fans. Seriously though, if you just open your mind a little any metalhead should enjoy the spectacle this is Pendulum’s live show. If you happen to be at a festival where they’re playing and they’re not on at the same same as, say, Opeth, go out of your way to check them out… it’ll be well worth it for you.

Here’s their remix of “Master of Puppets,” which I originally found posted at UK Metal Underground.

-VN